random access

Low I.Q linked to Prejudice, Racism, Conservatism

2012-02-08T14:29:00.000-08:00

Intelligence Study Links Low I.Q. To Prejudice, Racism, Conservatism

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/27/intelligence-study-links-prejudice_n_1237796.html

Current Time-waster Websites

2012-02-08T13:51:00.000-08:00

Current Web favorites?

Wasting time can be important for creativity. I suppose I should put these on one of those link collector sites like delicious.

Crap
http://www.wwtdd.com - What Would Tyler Durden Do. I love the commentary
http://holywoodtuna.com - this should be self explanatory
http://www.egotastic.com - more celebutard exploits

Misc Blogs
http://kottke.org/
...

NYC stuff
mrbellersneighborhood.com - stories about NYC
gothamist.com

Music stuff
http://gearslutz.com - audio engineering types, home recording, etc.
http://www.cymbalholic.com - cymbal nuts - mostly jazz drummers.
the forums on HarmonyCentral.com
http://www.garagepunk.com
WFMU's blog: http://blog.wfmu.org/

Tech
Gizmodo.com - misc consumer tech
dpreview.com - digital photography

Software type of things, you mean like work?
too many to list I suppose.

News, My dad read the NY Post and the NY Times every day when he commuted into the city. He'd buy the Times in the morning but pick up the post from the garbage on the way home.

Human Time Machines

2012-02-08T13:13:00.000-08:00

I normally insist on two things in any movie I see: Kung Fu and Time Travel. Carmen always wants 2 other things like: a depressing story and foreign language (and preferably foreign subtitles). So like a Korean holocaust movie with German subtitles would be right up her alley.

Usually, and this is really a testament to her cooking and her company as we often watch movies when we're eating, I end up staying awake and enjoying her selections, regardless of my initial complaints. She on the other hand usually has to suffer through whatever piece of crap I put on - it's my giant TV and MY remote control - but I usually fall asleep and she suffers alone with Terminator 1-4, any Marvel superhero thing, and so on. And in my sleep I have the iron grip on the remote. To make it even worse when I wake up I usually rewind said piece of crap movie to where I think I fell asleep and replay it - usually falling back to sleep right away. I think she watched Universal Soldier 3 times before I made it to the end.

I admit it. I do this all the time. Anyway, this has nothing to do with my initial reason for posting today, which was that I liked this article about people who are living portals to historical events we normally just think of in terms of movies and books. But there are still a small # of people who witnessed key events first hand. Kind of like human wormholes.

Check out this article: Rasputin was my Neighbor and other Stories.

While I'm at it, check out these amazing photos from the Charles W Cushman collection. 14000 slides spanning 1938-1970ish. For me, seeing old NY in color, such as the 1942 image of McSorely's, is quite amazing. I found these pictures while looking for a photo of my grandfather's store, which was in Little Italy on Grand near Mulberry St.

The Cushman Slides

Finally if you want to waste some quality time reading stories about NY, check out Mr Bellers Neighborhood. Great site.

2012-02-06T17:09:00.000-08:00

millions of ceramic sunflower seeds by way of Ai Weiwei. this is just a few million of them. when they first showed this there were a 100 million of them.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/03/ai-weiweis-sunflower-seed-nyc_n_1182019.html

2012-02-06T17:04:00.000-08:00

This is the first NY apartment I've ever lived in with downstairs neighbors. For years I've had some kind electronic drum set or another without any worries. But I've read many a horror story about people living under dudes with these things and going ape shit. I never had to worry about this till now.

I'm really not that worried - the people downstairs a) have a duplex and sleep in the basement, b) have 3 dogs we never complain about, and c) seem cool. But it bothers me that it might someday be an issue.

Below's my solution: 2 sheets of 3/4" plywood, 1" sorbothane vibration dampeners, Auralex Platfoam, then carpet and padding... I also decided not to put the drum chair (and my weight) on the platform as this would couple the thing more tightly with the floor. So far so good.

Picasshole!

2012-02-05T20:39:00.000-08:00

Ever read an entire book and realize you got a character's name wrong right at the beginning but then somehow stubbornly keep getting it wrong over and over until you're at the end when you realize your mistake? I've done this more times then I can remember with people too. Its a big Duh moment.

I was reading an article about system design the other day because I've been curious about how some really huge sites work. Like Facebook/Amazon/Ebay - ones with millions of users. It started with this great post by insider Steve Yeggie comparing Google and Amazon that's made the rounds. Very interesting observations about systems versus platforms. That got me reading about NoSQL, various open source tools, Amazon and Google's cloud, etc... Stuff I don't get to touch much being in somewhat microsoft dominated environment lately. (Although I think Microsoft is doing some cool stuff with TFS, SQL 20102, Azure, etc.)

Anyway, there was a link in one of the articles regarding simplicity in software and he linked to this article about Picaso and la Guernica. I've seen all of these first hand in a museum in Madrid. I saw them but I completely missed the point and got Picaso's intent backwards.

Now I can't draw at all. But I can appreciate art when I see it - especially a huge totally freaking psychedelic masterpiece. Plus I had the good doctor dragging me around to various museums and telling me what's what. She's seen this before and knows her art. This 25 foot wide thing above - it moved me.

So there we were in this huge gallery surrounding the above painting (Museo Reina Sofia) that had many of Picasso's preliminary experiments that led up to this larger painting. I saw the bulls and simply assumed he worked his way from minimal to the most detailed image. But it turns out Picasso drew the bulls starting with the MOST realistic and detailed one and 11 drawings later reached the most simplistic.

My incorrect perspective made sense to me because I can't draw and always start drawing a face by first drawing a circle - adding ears, then nose, lips, eyes... pretty much the Mr Potatohead approach. Start minimal and add details. But a real artist (with talent and training) starts with details which is why they can capture realism.

For Picaso, this bulls series was an exercise in reducing the bull to the bare essentials. I mean, I get that, and over the years have learned to utilize that in music and all sorts of other things I can do somewhat competently. So it's not an earth shattering revelation. But I'm still pissed that I stood there amazed by this painting but missed the whole point of it.

It takes a lot of work and talent to make something that has only what's necessary. I wish I could achieve this more often. In relation to the article I had read, it went into systems being more complicated than they need to be. That often obscures the main objective and always impedes extensiblity and maintainability. The best stuff is the simplest. And you have to acquire a lot of skills and technique to make something seem simple.

Anyway, I definitely want to go back to Spain and think about this a bit more over tapas and a smokey sherry.

https://picasaweb.google.com/115888490996543031754/SightsInSpain

2012-01-27T12:21:00.000-08:00

some drums i've owned.

70's ludwig big beat in fake butcher block finish! These are in NJ somewhere.

The electric mess above and below.

Sold most of this crap off. Wood is good.

a purple nesting kit w 18bd from precision drums

The Gretsch kit is top secret! I want to be buried in it.

a collection of a little bit of everything that I used for the Wolfhaven recordings.

This kit nests too.

16" bd Drummers World bop kit

2012-01-27T11:55:00.000-08:00

Ah, one of my favorite songs....

2012-01-16T16:12:00.000-08:00

photo contest entries for Kyuss at Las Vegas House of Boooze

2010-03-02T13:43:00.001-08:00

My favorite guilty pleasur, Magma. Wonder what the lyrics are? They're not really these but you won't see it that way.

2009-10-27T18:51:00.000-07:00

Found this card today. A friend gave it to me years ago but I never saw it. I was throwing out a bag of some stuff today and saw an unopened envelope at the bottom.

The inside says, "Birthday or not, don't go with Paco."

Wise words indeed.

2009-10-09T18:03:00.000-07:00

Art Blakey, Max Roach, and Elvin Jones!

2009-09-25T15:52:00.000-07:00

The food in Spain stays mainly in my mouth.

2009-06-08T12:56:00.000-07:00

Here's a clip of what's probably my all time favorite band. Magma. A band I heard 30 years ago who eventually became a private guilty pleasure of mine (because no one else could stand them!).

This clip brought tears to my eyes. The drummer, Christian Vander, is the leader. They are singing in a made up language and telling a story about robots from space taking over the Earth. The songs often are structured using endless buildups of theme and variation. Getting higher with each round (like Gospel music does). They've been at this since the seventies and have cranked out many double and triple records to hold these long crazy tales.

To me this clip shows an aspect to them that is so key: playing with conviction and purpose and dedication. The end result? Ecstasy. Watch how Vander hits those cymbals. And think learning those chants is easy?! No surprise their biggest influence is Coltrane and Elvin Jones. Wow.

2009-05-19T21:06:00.001-07:00

Please to enjoy: this clip is really out there. It's from a movie called Gonks go Beat. It features Ginger Baker among a bunch of other drummers. Just for the drum porn alone it's a mindblower. Here's an interesting synopsis.

2009-05-07T15:02:00.000-07:00

Star Trek Fans complain about new movie: "The acting is too good and the plot actually makes sense."

Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'

2009-05-05T15:34:00.000-07:00

Normally I only blog about drums, music, scifi shit, and maybe the simpsons. Cause that's how I role BIATCH!!! But in this case I had to post this picture of a woman's boobs. I do love the Luis Prima song she's stretching to though.

2009-04-16T16:56:00.001-07:00

Hello Kitty! That's some dope scratchin...

Watch Kitten on a Turntable and more funny videos on CollegeHumor

2009-04-07T13:51:00.001-07:00

Hey - this video game looks really fun. They should have called it "Going Postal".

New Video Game Consists Solely Of Shooting People Point-Blank In The Face

2009-04-06T11:05:00.001-07:00

Another great mashup. This one features my all time favorite drummer: Bernard Pretty Purdie.

2009-03-23T07:46:00.000-07:00

I sat in the real Captains chair at NY's planetarium about 18 years ago when the Smithsonian did a traveling collection of Star Trek props. I pushed a kid out of the way to sit in it. (and I recall farting in the chair but that's for another blog...). The people in this article plan to grow old and die in theirs.

2009-02-05T12:49:00.000-08:00

RIP Lux Interior

http://www.thedailyswarm.com/headlines/cramps-lux-interior-rip/

2009-01-26T07:31:00.000-08:00

The longest Kiss has ever held my attention is this bizarre video.

2009-01-01T14:19:00.000-08:00

Screw the Blackberry. All it delivers to me is grief 24/7 by way of email from work. But an iPhone can do this. Me want:

2008-12-30T07:16:00.001-08:00

Yeah!, Yeah!, Yeah!, Yeah!, Yeah!, Yeah!... aww.

That's known as the Jets cheer.

My friend Bill was on the cover of the post yesterday. He invented the Jets cheer - which also works for Mets fans.

2008-12-19T13:25:00.000-08:00

We had our first gig at Otto's Shrunken Head on east 14 St. What a blast. There will be many more.

2008-10-28T04:32:00.000-07:00

Gotta love this amazing band, the Tielman Brothers, live from Dutch TV in 1960. They were family from Indonesia where everyone was musical, who for me, just embody everything that's great in music: Solid chops and talent, a sense of humour, a sense of tradition (could that drummer be channeling Gene Krupa any better?), and they could entertain like crazy. It starts to cook in the middle. Watch it to the end and just try to stay in your seat.

More info about them here

2008-10-28T04:26:00.001-07:00

Even more video editing drum magic. I've seen Louis Belson, the drummer many times. Amazing man, amazing drummer, bad wig.

See more funny videos and Music Videos at Today's Big Thing.

2008-10-22T10:55:00.000-07:00

I almost found a reason to like John McCain. Too bad it's fake.

2008-09-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

My fellow NY Mets fans suffer all sorts of hummiliation. Even from each other.

link if above doesn't display

2008-09-30T13:24:00.000-07:00

This tractor can swing!!

Link if it doesn't display.

I had to amend this and add the incredible robot band:

2007-11-06T11:00:00.000-08:00

I now know where all that Star Trek crap Paramount sold in auction went: To geeks building the ultimate home theaters. I want one. Make it so!

And then for the FINAL final frontier, there's this: I do not want!

2007-09-24T21:31:00.000-07:00

Wow. Some more video editing drum magic!

Stop motion drums - Watch more free videos

2007-03-19T06:36:00.000-07:00

We attended SXSW in Austin. There were supposedly 1,400 registered bands (and probably equal that # of unofficial bands) playing in every club, park, vacant lot, store, drive through fast food place, highway underpass - morning to night...

Stay tuned. Many more pictures to come. This is Peelander Z

2007-03-04T21:17:00.000-08:00

Wow. A solid hour with drummer extraordinaire Tony Williams!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1981490425585781179&%20hl=en

2006-08-07T20:43:00.000-07:00

2 and a half years and i haven't written anything?! been too busy watching groin injury videos on youtube i guess. well, not really but this one's pretty good. someone took 3 different educational music videos and edited them together. i've seen this drummer, Louis Bellson, many times. he's one of my heros.

2004-03-08T05:07:00.000-08:00

Finally, I've uploaded a number of finished or nearly finished pieces of music to my music section of billwolf.com

You can find two cd's worth of stuff in mp3 format here: musiz

2004-03-06T17:14:00.000-08:00

Does every blogger's first post start out with, "Ok, this is my first post?"